ERIE, Pa. – Gannon dominated its Homecoming match on Saturday night against California (Pa.) and came away with a 2-1 win thanks to goals by Brooklyn Respecki (McKean, Pa./General McLane) and Paige Taylor (Robina, Australia/Emmanuel College).
 
The Golden Knights have now won back-to-back matches for the second time this season while improving to 4-2-1 overall and 4-1-0 in the PSAC West. California (Pa.) dropped to 2-4-1 and 1-3-1.

Oddly enough Saturday's win was the first for the Golden Knights at McConnell Family Stadium after previously suffering a pair of losses and playing to a tie in three previous home games. The Cal game begins a three-game homestand for head coach Colin Petersen's team.

The margin of victory would have been much greater if not for the play of Emily Ouimet in goal. Ouimet recorded 15 saves as Gannon and incredible 36-4 advantage in shots. That included an 18-3 edge in shots on goal. The Golden Knights also took 14 corners compared to two for the Vulcans.    

A turnover deep in California (Pa.) territory led to the first goal. A Cal defender's attempt to chip the ball back to the goalkeeper failed as freshman Brooklyn Respecki (McKean, Pa./General McLane) won the race to the ball and fired a shot from the left corner into the far right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead at 14:26. It was her team-leading fourth goal.

Despite some staggering statistics while playing with the wind, Ganon led just 1-0 at the half. The Golden Knights outshot Cal 22-0 and 10-0 in shots on goal, but Ouimet had nine saves.

Despite having 30 shots more than Cal, the Golden Knights would not find the back of the net until the 73:47 mark when Paige Taylor (Robina, Australia/Emmanuel College) scored off a feed from Gabby Boden (Butler, Pa./Butler). Boden won a scramble from just outside 10 yards in front of the net. Her sliding pass found Taylor open and her shot from the right side sailed into the left corner of the goal. Taylor's first goal of the season and second of her career extended Gannon's lead to 2-0.

Cal made things more than a bit interesting in the final minutes when Ashley Venezia scored at 85:03, assisted by Christyana Sims. The Gannon defense took over after that to secure the victory.

Gannon returns to action on Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 3 p.m. with a showdown against Slippery Rock. The Golden Knights were chosen as the preseason favorite in the PSAC West, but they currently sit in third place with SRU second at 4-1-1.